Here is the marble fireplace mantel further along. I created the molding at the top and started adding the decoration. I used some of the decorative work from an artist on blendswap.com which is very helpful since it is very detailed sculpting, and I can concentrate on creating the rest of the structure.
I also started texturing the mantel with a white marble and the inside with a red brick. The mantel has very subtle subsurface scattering applied to look like real marble, which is the effect of light entering an object and bouncing around (like wax or skin).
